OpenAI suspends ByteDance's account after it allegedly used GPT to build rival AI product: report

OpenAI has suspended the account of TikTok parent ByteDance following a report that the China-owned firm was “secretly” using its “GPT” AI technology to build its own rival chatbot service.

ByteDance, whose ties to the Chinese government have prompted intense federal scrutiny of TikTok’s operations in the US, has reportedly relied on OpenAI’s application programming interface, or API, “during nearly every phase of development” of its AI product, The Verge reported, citing internal company documents.

ByteDance has been building its own large-language model – an AI tool trained on endless reams of internet data – as part of a “high-priority” and “secretive” internal initiative called “Project Seed.” The report said ByteDance has used OpenAI’s “GPT” to both train its model and evaluate its development.

The practice appears to violate the stated terms of service for OpenAI, which tells customers its AI platform can’t be used “to develop any artificial intelligence models that compete with our products and services.”